Companies around the world are quickly discovering that the cloud is allowing them to serve their customers better than ever before — and saving them big money in the process.
While there are countless mega-corporations leading the charge, smaller players are also finding their niche by “targeting enterprise companies seeking reliable places to host high-end software tools and startups looking for cheap, easy, and reliable solutions.”
Indeed, one of the most significant ways in which businesses can realize success with the cloud is through partnering with a cloud-based call center provider for support-related and other services. Here’s a look at how businesses can leverage the cloud to grow their operations and bolster sales.
Understanding Cloud-Based Call Centers
Cloud-based call centers employ agents who work remotely, serving your customers on an as-needed basis. Because these operations are flexible and scalable, your business could add or subtract the number of agents as call volume shifts.
Additionally, through this technology, you get first-class contact center operational reliability, while the power of the global cloud helps you keep up-to-date with the latest customer engagement technologies. Customer satisfaction is boosted. Plus, the costs tend to be much lower than setting up a call center on your own, and you have no learning curve to manage.
Maintaining Your Workplace Culture
Setting up a successful cloud contact center starts with picking the right provider. While you’ll need the expertise of experienced call center professionals, you also will need to rely on an outsourcing vendor that can incorporate members from your team.
By selecting employees from amongst your own ranks to maintain and grow your cloud contact center efforts, you can make sure your cloud contact center is a true representation of your company and its culture, instead of a generic service that doesn’t provide any additional value.
Picking a Cloud Call Center Provider
Technology counts, too. As you begin to look into cloud contact center providers, you’ll want to select an outsourcing vendor that will help you take your customer care to the next level. While you don’t have to worry about the hardware your cloud contact center provider will use — that’s on them — you should take a careful look at the software they will use to serve your customers.
Call Recording
The first technology to look for is a call recording system. Whether you plan to make one or a combination of inbound or outbound calls, this feature allows you to listen to the calls agents are handling on your company’s behalf. Call recording is an integral part of quality assurance. It should also play a role in coaching agents and training them.
IVR Capabilities
Finally, consider whether your cloud contact center provider offers IVR capabilities. This technology collects information from callers and helps route them to the right department. The former is important because it gives you insights into your customer base and can help you generate a database of customer information you can access at any time. Meantime, the ability to route customers to the right department can help bolster your brand experience by reducing customer frustration and enhancing the speed of issue resolution.
Some IVR platforms can do even more, like being configured to measure the success of your advertising efforts, and they can save you money by providing a system for your customers to resolve specific issues without ever having to speak to a live agent. Some IVR systems can also offer context across communication channels, predict the intent of each call, and provide proactive outreach.
Choosing the Right Provider for Your Business Needs
Adding a cloud contact center to your operations can help your business in a myriad of ways, as long as you choose the right provider. Ideally, you need a call center partner that will preserve your company’s culture while working to improve customer satisfaction. Selecting a cloud contact center provider that offers the right combination of technologies will help you reach your call center performance goals and learn more about your customers.